I came across this a little while ago, long after it was written. After looking at social justice issues, today I’d like you to spend much of the lesson reading the blog of a young woman from Baghdad.

In the last 15 min or so, write me an email with your thoughts – so you might like to take a couple of notes, or copy/paste any quotes etc (and date of post) that you find interesting, perhaps different to your perception of living in a war zone, or living in the Middle East, or on becoming a refugee. I was intrigued by Riverbend, I hope you find her story interesting.

Start with her first posts (scroll down to the bottom and work your way up)

August 2003

Read from at least one post from 2004, 2005, 2006 (choose from the archive on the right)

Then from her last few posts in 2007

April, September, October

And her final post from 2013

 

Good luck with exams, see you next semester for Ethics 🙂

Social Justice Interview Task S1 2016

Due 4.00pm Friday 10 June 2016

There are a variety of online games which aim to promote an understanding about social justice. In groups of 2-3, you will be allocated one game.

1st half hour

Play it for about 20 min and prepare a short review of it (ppt and email to BT):

• name & description
• aspect of social justice it addresses
• how well it does this
• what did you learn about the issue?
• you should include a few screenshots

 

2nd half hour

• present reviews

 

3rd half hour

• based on reviews, you may play one or more of these games only!!

 

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The Games / Simulations

http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/spent/

Live the life of someone without much money – how to spend limited money, too poor for doctor etc. Location: USA

Poverty in wealthy country: pretty good representation of issues

 http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/sweatshop/

‘Sick game’ where you hire adults or kids (cheaper) to work in a sweatshop, to make products for minimum cost. Fail and the boss swears at you and fires you.

Child Labour / Sweatshop: pretty good – people get injured, crying children, poor working conditions

 http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/wildfire/

Didn’t work

 http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/3rd-world-farmer/

You are a farming family in 3rd world family: drought, illness, poor years, militia. Start with little money, control farming decisions, gives you an ‘annual report yearly’ – health of family – give them medicine. Deaths at young ages (40 or so for parents, kids at 10)

3rd world countries – pretty good

 http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/free-rice/

Play vocab game – definitions / synonyms – you get 10 grains of rice for every correct answer. World Food Programme (UN Agency) – so real people benefit from you playing games. Other languages are there too.

 http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/darfur-is-dying/

You are a kid who goes to collect water (about 4km each way) while avoiding militia / soldiers.

Shows poverty, conflict, access to drinking water

 http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/ayiti-the-cost-of-life/

Role play as a family below the poverty line in Haiti – how to survive by working, paying bills etc. Pick a life path and follow it through.

Showed how hard it is to earn money and keep family healthy. Badly affected by things we wouldn’t expect etc.

http://ncase.me/polygons/ 

‘The parable of the polygons’: segregation in society

 

Or the menu is here – choose one from the categories of:
Poverty
Human Rights

Garden of Eden … and the snake

Rwanda background

Hotel Rwanda (DVD)

 

 

 

Social Justice Issue Study S1 2016

 

Due Date: 8.20am, Friday 18 March 2016 (Week 7) – Year 9 Office

There are many social justice issues in our world today. A few examples are:

Asylum seekers, war and peace, globalisation, world debt, slavery, human rights, women’s rights crime and punishment, reconciliation, land rights and Indigenous issues, child abuse, politics and power, civil rights, religious freedom, environment and sustainable futures, racism, domestic violence, homelessness, poverty, child labour, bullying, harassment etc.

 Part 1.     Research (50% of the marks)

Choose a topic of Social Justice and confirm it with your teacher and research it by means of books, magazines and the Internet and write answers to the following:

1. Describe the issue and the effects it has – physical, emotional and/or financial.         (100 words min)
2. Why is it unfair or unjust, and why do people get away with it? (in other words explain the power issue and how that power is abused). (100 words min)
3. What is currently being done to address this issue/problem? How effective is this in helping to solve the problem? (150 words min)
4. Find a Biblical Story OR Reference that relates to the issue/problem. Explain the connection between the
   1. Biblical Story OR Reference and your issue/problem and
   2. The message that Jesus is outlining in this story (200 words min)
5. What is your personal reflection on this issue, and on the religious or spiritual response you found?  (100 words min)

A Bibliography MUST be provided.

(Your responses for Part 1 should total 650 words minimum and some may be appropriate to be done in a dot point format)

 

Part 2      Presentation (50% of the marks)

 Take your research from Part 1 and present it as one of the following.

Be aware that Part 2 will be presented to the class or another appropriate forum in negotiation with your teacher.

1.  A Children’s Story Book (May be done as a pair)
2. A Chapel Devotion (including Music, Bible Verse(s) and Prayer) (May be done as a group – confirm with your teacher)
3. A letter to the Prime Minister making a case for his Government to do something about the issue. The content of your letter will set the theme for an Internet Page that will help to promote and raise awareness of the issue.

We agreed in our first lesson that a safe environment, conducive to positive discussion would look like:

Sorry if I haven’t made it back yet – I’m hopefully on the bus after climbing Mount Lofty with my Year 9 Tutor group… and will be back soon! In the meantime:

Have you seen the case of ‘baby Asha’? 

http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/news/government-wont-budge-on-baby-asha-despite-more-rallies-planned-outside-brisbane-hospital/news-story/05b0e98a6176ae8acc93ff2142fe5dac

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/02/15/19/40/baby-asha-lady-cilento-hospital-staff-refute-keeping-nauru-baby-denying-queensland-children

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/13/baby-asha-and-nauru-protests-held-as-hospital-staff-oppose-transfer

1. Read the articles
2. Summarise the case of ‘baby Asha’
3. Identify 4 possible social justice issues raised in the articles (not just about Asha):
   1. do you agree each is a social justice issue? Why / not?
   2. what are some possible alternative actions that might be taken?
   3. what are the consequences of these actions – and are there further social justice concerns or legal problems with these actions?
4. If there is a choice between following the law and acting in the spirit of social justice, how should we act? (as individuals, or as society through our government)